Tim Howard crawled on all fours, lunging and scampering as Giovani Dos Santos toyed with him. A few jukes and a gorgeous lob later and Mexico won the 2011 Gold Cup in the Rose Bowl.

The game, a come-from-behind 4-2 win, and trophy marked the transfer of regional superiority to El Tri after a decade of U.S. dominance. The closing ceremony was, tellingly, in Spanish.

Mexico returns to the Rose Bowl this week with its bragging rights evaporating for the first time in two years.

Following blistering form in 2012, El Tri has won two games of 12 and scored nine goals. The six World Cup qualifiers in 2013 have produced five draws and three goals. Jose Manuel 'Chepo' de la Torre's team bowed out of the group stages in the Confederations Cup thanks to losses to Italy and Brazil in the first two games.

Meanwhile, the United States is roaring through CONCACAF qualifying after an iffy start. The USA tops the Hexagonal with 13 points. Mexico has eight. Moreover, the Yanks have won and tied in the last two visits to Azteca Stadium. Prior to the 2012 friendly win, the USA had never won on Mexican soil. It drew once out of the first 24 games across the border.

Enter the Gold Cup.

The North and Central American tournament tends to feature secondary rosters. This year is no different. For the most part, the biggest perk is a potential spot in the Confederations Cup for the winner. However, regional pride will take center focus for Mexico.

De la Torre may lose his job if he can't beat the pesky Yanks. He's also on the lookout for a new right back, central midfielder and goalscorer for the first-choice team. His inexperienced Gold Cup roster has scored four international goals total, no one more than once individually.

El Tri needs goal – they don't have to be as emblematic or picturesque as Dos Santos' – and a trophy to avoid becoming second best again.

Careful what you wish for

Everyone wants Edinson Cavani. It's the cheekbones.

And, of course, those goal stats. He scored 29 goals in the Serie A last year to lead the traditionally stingy league in scoring. He has averaged 26 league goals a year over the last three seasons. In the Champions League, he scored seven times from four starts (and three substitute appearances).

Should he stay at Napoli, only 11 goals separate him from Diego Maradona's club record of 115 goals.

That's unlikely, with the richest clubs in Europe willing to part with scandalous sums to acquire Cavani. Reported suitors include Paris Saint-Germain, Chelsea and Manchester City, with Napoli owner Aurelio De Laurentiis rambling on about the Uruguayan's 63 million euro release clause.

Cavani is in his prime at 26, a consistent goal-scorer and capable of finishing a rich variety of goals. He's 6-foot, 160 pounds and lean. He won the 2011 Copa America and 2012 Coppa Italia and led Napoli to second last season. De Laurentiis will probably get pretty close to the release clause.

But suitor clubs ought to double check the fit before signing a check.

Cavani thrives as the spearhead on a counterattacking unit. Think Fernando Torres circa 2008. Former coach Walter Zenga called him a “mobile tip,” piercing angled runs and precise finishing.

“In the 4-4-2 of Palermo, Edinson did not want to play as a winger,” Walter Zenga told La Gazzetta dello Sport after the striker moved to Napoli for 17m euros. “But if I told him that the system was an offensive-minded 4-3-3 then he accepted.”

Cavani has developed since then and notably toils on the wing for Uruguay. His coach Oscar Tabarez, struggling to fit the country's all-time leading scorers Diego Forlan and Luis Suarez into the same lineup, called Cavani's play “altruistic.”

But the numbers bear out Cavani's initial preference. Since moving to Napoli, where Walter Mazzarri used him to lead the line in a counterattacking 3-4-2-1, he has scored 104 goals in 138 games, or 0.75 goals per game. Compare that to his record with Uruguay: 16 goals in 54 games for 0.3 goals/game. Between the most recent World Cup, Copa America and Olympics, he scored one goal total despite starting most matches. His numbers at Palermo – 36 goals in 112 games, 0.32 goals/game – were similar.

Cavani is clinical enough that he'll score for whatever team buys him. His scrappy goals in the Confederations Cup, three in the last two games, show that. But interested teams may want to read deeper than the impressive stats to figure out how well he'll adjust.

For instance, on PSG, where play funnels and slows through Zlatan Ibrahimovic, the best version of Cavani may not make it through French customs.

Cavani looks like a weirdly handsome version of the Geico caveman. We'll see how he looks in a new system next season.

The cat's out of the bag

As a 17-year-old, Isco said something unfortunate. Teenagers should shun recorders and, if YouTube has taught us anything, webcams.

“I would say I'm a bit of an anti-Madridista. One never knows where his future lies, but it's a team I’ve never liked,” Isco told Super Deporte in 2009. “I get the impression that Real Madrid is an arrogant club.”

Following a transfer for a reported 30 million euros this week, his future lies with Real Madrid.

The 21-year-old will move from Malaga to Madrid with his loyal labrador. "I named my dog 'Messi' because Messi is the best in the world, and so is my dog," Isco said.

The dog featured prominently in Isco's first press conference as a Blanco. Reporters asked if he would change the name to honor new teammate Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi's closest challenger as the best soccer player in the world.

"My pet is named Messi and by the way I also had another pet named Figo. There isn't more to it," Isco said. "I won't change his name to Cristiano, because he won't listen to it."

Portuguese legend Luis Figo moved from Barcelona to Real Madrid in 2000. It fits. As one of the Galacticos, Figo won two La Liga titles and the Champions League. The next time he played at Camp Nou, Barca fans threw a severed pig's head at him.

Isco won't face even remotely similar treatment. He's just the latest in an extended fire sale following the collapse of Malaga's finances. He's also the most expensive.

In 2012, Isco was the LFP's Breakthrough Player and Tuttosport's Golden Boy. (Previous winners of the latter include Wayne Rooney, Lionel Messi, Cesc Fabregas, Sergio Aguero, Mario Balotelli, Mario Gotze. And Anderson. You can't get them all right.)

Isco scored nine goals last season. In an unexpected run to the Champions League quarterfinals, he pitched in three goals and three assists over eight matches. Then, this summer, Isco scored a goal in each of Spain's last three games when it won the U-21 European Championship.

"We have a lot of hope pinned to Isco,” Spain head coach Vicente del Bosque told Radio Nacional de Espana. “He is the future of the national team."